South Sudan: Fighting in Malakal site leaves at least 18 dead, two of them MSF staff

MSF teams treated dozens of wounded people after last night’s violence

18 February 2016

Anna Surinyach/MSF

Staff and patients at MSF's hospital in the UN compound in Malakal, South Sudan, last November.

Juba – As a result of fighting that erupted in the Malakal Protection of Civilian (PoC) site in Malakal, South Sudan, at least 18 people were killed, two of them MSF South Sudanese staff members who were attacked in their homes. MSF teams in its hospital received 36 wounded people during the night, one of them an MSF staff member. More casualties are currently arriving.

Initial fighting went on for approximately three hours forcing around 600 people – mostly women and children – to gather inside the MSF hospital. MSF teams worked through the night to treat the injured. At least 25 of the initial intake of patients to the hospital had suffered gunshot wounds and eight of them required surgery.

“People came to the PoC looking for protection and this should be a sanctuary respected by all parties.”

“This attack on civilians is outrageous and we demand that armed groups stop these actions,” said Marcus Bachmann, coordinator of MSF projects in South Sudan. “People came to the PoC looking for protection and this should be a sanctuary respected by all parties.”

Some 40,000 people are currently sheltering in the Malakal PoC site. Many came from areas where no aid had been available for months. Most people arrived without any possessions.

Our thoughts are with the families of our colleagues who have lost their lives.

MSF operates a 50-bed hospital in Malakal, including a 24-hour emergency room, as well as a separate emergency room inside the PoC site.MSF has been working in the region that today constitutes the Republic of South Sudan since 1983. Today, we employ more than 2,937 South Sudanese staff and 329 international staff to respond to a wide range of medical emergencies and provide free, high quality healthcare in 18 projects across seven of South Sudan's 10 states and the Abyei Special Administrative Area.